Dr Firdous Ul Nazir FHEA, SMIEEE, DIC

• Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2023
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), 2022
• PhD in Power Systems, Imperial College London, 2020
• Diploma of Imperial College (DIC), Imperial College London, 2020
• MTech in Power Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, 2015
• BTech in Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Srinagar, 2012

Firdous joined the University of Birmingham as an Associate Professor in Electrical Power Engineering in September 2026.

Before joining Birmingham, he was a Senior Lecturer in Electrical Power Engineering at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), where he also served as Programme Leader for the BEng, BEng (Hons) and MEng Electrical Power Engineering programmes. Alongside his role at GCU, he was a Research Fellow at Imperial College London. Prior to this, he worked at Imperial College as a Research Associate and Visiting Researcher.

Firdous received the PhD in Power Systems from Imperial College London in 2020, where his doctoral research focused on stochastic Volt/VAr control of power distribution systems. He previously completed an MTech in Power Systems at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India and a BTech in Electrical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology Srinagar, India. Before moving to the UK for his PhD, he worked as a Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at NIT Srinagar.

His research focuses on the planning, operation, control and stability of future power systems, with particular interests in distribution networks, integration of distributed energy resources, probabilistic power system analysis, flexibility and converter-dominated power systems. His work combines fundamental research with practical applications and he has led and contributed to research and knowledge exchange projects funded by UK Research and Innovation and the European Commission, alongside industry-facing research and consultancy with organisations including the UK National Energy System Operator (NESO) and ESB Networks.

His contributions to industry engagement and knowledge exchange have received national recognition, including the UKRI KTP Academic of the Year Award in 2025 and the Innovator of the Future Award at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards in 2026. His KTP project was also selected as a finalist for the Innovation & Technical Excellence Award at the 2026 KTP Award.

Firdous is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Senior Member of the IEEE. He also serves as an Associate Editor of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy and is a member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society Long-Range Planning Committee on Emerging Technologies, Digitalization and AI Readiness.

Digital Design

Firdous welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral researchers interested in areas related to future power and energy systems, including:

•Planning, operation, control and optimisation of power distribution systems
•Stability of converter-dominated power systems
•Grid-forming and grid-following converter technologies
•Integration of renewable energy and distributed energy resources
•Power system flexibility and electric vehicle integration
•Probabilistic and data-driven power system analysis
•Digitalisation and digital twins for power system applications
•Resilience and restoration of future power systems

He is also interested in supervising interdisciplinary research combining power systems with optimisation, control and data-driven methods.

He has supervised and is currently supervising doctoral research on topics including robust Volt/VAr control of modern distribution networks; digital twins for distribution networks; smart meter data-driven monitoring and control; electric vehicle control for ancillary services; grid-forming inverters and microgrid black start; integrated energy systems; and advanced power flow analysis and network reconfiguration of unbalanced distribution networks.

Firdous's research focuses on the planning, operation, control and stability of future power and energy systems. His work combines fundamental methodological developments with practical applications and industry collaboration. His main research interests include distribution system operation and optimisation, integration of distributed energy resources, converter-dominated power systems, flexibility, probabilistic power system analysis, and digitalisation of electricity networks.

Research themes

Distribution system operation, control and optimisation

A major strand of his research focuses on the operation and control of active distribution networks under increasing uncertainty. His work includes stochastic and robust Volt/VAr control, probabilistic power flow, optimisation and reconfiguration of distribution networks, and advanced modelling of unbalanced distribution systems.

Converter-dominated power systems and renewable integration

His research investigates the modelling, operation and stability of power systems with increasing penetration of inverter-based resources. Current areas include grid-forming and grid-following technologies, inverter-based resource modelling, short-circuit analysis, microgrid operation and black start, and integration of converter-connected renewable generation. 

Flexibility and electric vehicles 

His research also investigates flexibility from distributed energy resources and electric vehicles, including stochastic smart charging, vehicle-to-grid technologies and ancillary services. 

Digitalisation of energy

Another strand of his work focuses on digital twins and data-driven approaches for monitoring and operation of distribution networks.

Funded research projects

Firdous has secured and contributed to research funding from UK and international funding bodies. His recent funded projects include:

FITNESS – For actIve disTribution NEtworks in Smart gridS (2024–2028)

Institute PI/Co-I for the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network, funded by the European Commission. Funding: £269k.

KTP – Knowledge Transfer Partnership (2024–2026)

PI and Academic Supervisor for a UKRI-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership focused on developing advanced probabilistic and scenario-based power system analysis capabilities. Funding: £179k.

CREAM – Clean Rural Energy for Agriculture and Medicine (2025–2026)

Co-Investigator on the UKRI-funded research project. Funding: £97k.

Industry and Consultancy Projects

Firdous has also worked directly with the energy industry and system operators on applied research and consultancy projects, including:

Network Topology Optimisation – UK National Energy System Operator (NESO), 2025

Co-I and power system expert for the technical review of network topology optimisation studies, reports, recommendations and future roadmap.

Vehicle-to-Grid for Distribution Networks – ESB Networks, 2024–2025

Co-I on a project investigating V2G technologies for distribution networks, including literature review, techno-economic analysis and recommendations for commercial V2G deployment. Project value: £50k.

EV Fleet Optimisation – ESB Networks, 2024–2025

Co-I on research examining smart charging of commercial EV fleets, including scenario analysis and development of a roadmap for integration with distribution networks. Project value: £80k.

Renewable Dispatch Down – ESB Networks, 2023–2024

Co-I on research into renewable dispatch-down and distributed energy resource visibility, including recommendations and roadmap development. Project value: £47k.

Digital Utility Manager – Indian Smart Grid Forum, 2022–2023

Co-I on the development of technical material for training electrical utility professionals.